In Broadcast - April 2012 - 44

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 7 - APRIL 2012

InMEDIA
Satellite And Cable Inextricably Linked Cont.
is a real demand for satellite bandwidth,” he says. “We are seeing a boom across all our markets, particularly in the carrying of data, and although much of our capacity is full we still have some to work with.” Intelsat is among the latest satellite operators to adopt NS3 technology, with other manufacturers now introducing their own methods of getting more out of DVB-S2. During February Newtec introduced Clean Channel Technology, which it claims improves satellite efﬁciency on IP trunking, backhauling and broadcast contributions by up to 15 percent, compared to the performance of DVB-S2 techniques. “We predict that a new DVB standard will lead to signiﬁcantly more efﬁcient solutions than any DVB-S2 based satellite equipment on the market today is capable of,” comments Dirk Breynaert, Chief Technology Ofﬁcer and Co-founder of Newtec. “This step forward is critical to ensuring the continuation of a vibrant and proﬁtable satellite industry.” While NovelSat, Newtec and their customers might feel they are already in the realms of DVB-S3, the DVB Project itself is more circumspect. According to the organisation’s latest newsletter, “The Commercial Module has begun discussion on a new speciﬁcation for satellite contribution and highspeed data links. This new activity is not intended to be a replacement for DVB-S2 but will potentially cover all other satellite services besides DTH.” The standard for cable was updated in 2009 with the ratiﬁcation of DVB-C2. This allowed bit rates of up to 83.1Mbit/s to be carried in 8MHz channel bandwidth using 4096-QAM modulation and was designed to be as close to the theoretical maximum for data transmission within a speciﬁed bandwidth so that a third generation version would not be necessary. Cable operators in Europe are mirroring their terrestrial TV counterparts by switching from analogue to digital. According to ﬁgures from trade association Cable Europe, this transition has increased the number of homes receiving digital cable by 13 percent. A major selling point today is the “triple play”, bundling internet and telephony with digital TV services, which are regarded as crucial for cable business as interactivity becomes more of a reality. Because of this more attractive offering the European cable sector posted a record total revenue of €19.9 billion during 2011. There are still problems, however, with calls for greater market consolidation and fears that the auction and reallocation of frequency spectrum will open the way for new services and devices that could cause interference on cable transmission (a concern shared with the terrestrial TV sector). As David Furstenberg at NovelSat notes, cable companies are now well versed in IT and other new media, which he says could be a problem: “At the head-ends the cable people are all great IP experts but there is a discrepancy between them and the satellite sector because many know less about RF engineering than one would expect.” Whether this shows that cable is less prepared for the big picture or satellite is lagging behind technologically is hard to say. The more likely conclusion is that everyone has to think about the role of IP and other new technologies while remembering the fundamentals. ■

Satellites at work

44

72MHz transponder, which, says Furstenberg, will be necessary as the broadcast industry moves from transmitting video as video to transferring it as data over IP networks. “This will save a huge amount of money in terms of real estate and electricity,” he says, “but it will not be an inexpensive step to begin with.” Satellite transmission service provider SatLink has worked closely with NovelSat during the development of NS3 and is now using the system for its clients, which include governments, ISPs and maritime users as well as broadcasters. John Reverand, Vice President for the Americas at SatLink, comments that efﬁcient use of satellite space is “essential” due to the scarcity of capacity. “There

SKY Perfect JSAT Selects EVS’ Epsio Live
EVS live graphics solution has been chosen to enhance the studio production of this year’s Japanese Football League season
SKY Perfect JSAT, the Japanesebased broadcasting network that owns the rights to the production and distribution of the prestigious Japanese Football League, J.League, has chosen EVS’ live production technology to improve the viewing experiences of its audiences. During live match broadcasts for the upcoming football season, Epsio Live control systems and SKY Perfect JSAT will create virtual graphics during live operations and insert them instantly during a live match broadcast. SKY Perfect JSAT chose EVS’ live replay and graphic systems, which will be used on all matches of the new season of the J.League, to create live virtual graphic analysis during the games. In total, over 30 XT-series servers and controllers will be operated by SKY Perfect JSAT contracted production facilities during the coverage of 300 matches in 2012. The system was implemented in time for the ﬁrst match of the season on March 10, 2012. The Japanese broadcaster’s audiences will be offered a series of graphics indicators that will appear on the pitch during live matches to highlight the offside position of players, distances to the goal at free kicks, and tracking circles surrounding key players. Naofumi Kaneko, Sports Director at SKY Perfect Broadcasting Corporation, said: “The integration of EVS’ live graphics systems in our production is a great opportunity for us to increase the live TV football experience for our audiences.” Dai Katoh Technical Producer at SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, added: “Epsio Live is the ﬁrst live graphics system we’ve seen that’s been so reactive, and its ability to provide quality graphics in real time at the highest standard for action replay, is truly amazing.” Epsio Live is the ﬁrst system to offer instant virtual graphic inserts during a live broadcast production and is easily EVS Epsio Live controlled using EVS’ renowned replay system, LSM With Epsio Live, LSM operators can simply manage the insertion of graphical overlays in real-time or during instant replays. The available graphic overlays include an offside line, a nine-metre circle, distance to the goal, scores and logo inserts. All effects are immediately available and can be added using the LSM controller. With its auto-field detection system, based on different predefined camera angles, Epsio

Live is able to recognise the playing surface during live coverage and virtually draw the graphic overlays along the borders of the pitch. This one-second operation is selectable with just one button, and the operator can manually trigger the offside line with the jog wheel of the LSM. ■
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In Broadcast - April 2012

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